Indonesia sends two stable high seeds into the lads’s doubles competitors in Tokyo, however they are going to be challenged by greater than a dozen harmful pairs all with their very own possibilities at both a medal or at an opportunity to perpetrate a decisive upset.
By Don Hearn. Photographs: Badmintonphoto
The Tokyo males’s doubles subject is as extensive open because it will get. On paper, world #1 Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (pictured high) are the overwhelming favourites however there are nonetheless some issues on that paper that make it a really powerful name.
Hendra Setiawan (pictured proper, with accomplice Mohammad Ahsan) once more performs the a part of a returning champion. However whereas in Rio each self-discipline had somebody with a golden Olympic previous – together with 4 in males’s doubles – this time round not solely is Setiawan the lone previous gold medallist in his personal self-discipline, he’s the one one in all the Tokyo badminton competitors other than males’s singles defender Chen Lengthy.
After all, if not for the power of the 2 Indonesian pairs, one is perhaps preparing for an actual altering of the guard in Olympic males’s doubles. Korea, China, Malaysia, and Denmark are all within the unlikely state of affairs of being restricted to only one pair on this version. It’s acquainted territory for Malaysia and Denmark however neither Korea nor China have ever been on this place earlier than of every counting on lone gunmen.
What’s extra, of those 4 former powerhouses, solely China has a seeded pair and Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen (pictured) hadn’t received something greater than a Tremendous 300 since early 2019. After all with all of the layoffs in 2020 and 2021, it’s inconceivable to foretell who shall be match-ready for his or her Tokyo matches. In the case of Chinese language athletes, nonetheless, one can’t assist considering again to 2009, when all the staff took a two-month coaching break after which China swept the titles once they bought again to enterprise on the All England that yr. We shouldn’t be shocked if Li and Liu may come roaring again higher than ever.
Darkish horse nations, in-form pairs
Solely three international locations have ever claimed Olympic gold in males’s doubles and solely two others have ever received silver. However 2021 may properly be the yr that Japan or Chinese language Taipei get added to the honour roll. Yuta Watanabe and Hiroyuki Endo (pictured proper) are clearly driving excessive as they arrive in on the heels of their second consecutive All England win however greater than that, or than even their dwelling courtroom benefit, they’ve put collectively a six-match successful streak towards top-seeded Sukamuljo and Gideon.
Additionally on a roll are Wang Chi Lin and Lee Yang (pictured beneath). Their largest confidence increase comes from the string of three titles in consecutive weeks in Bangkok earlier this yr. They could solely have needed to cope with one of many high 4 Tokyo seeds for these January victories however it was nonetheless a serious achievement. The query is whether or not that type of momentum can bridge throughout 4 months with no worldwide exercise.
For all their promise at this yr’s Olympics, Endo/Watanabe and Lee/Wang have additionally among the many trickiest attracts among the many higher-ranked pairs. The Japanese duo have spectacular data towards many top-tier opponents however within the group stage, they should discover a well beyond two European pairs which have given them appreciable hassle prior to now.
For Wang and Lee, additionally it is troublesome to foretell. They may have anticipated to play second fiddle in Group A towards Gideon and Sukamuljo, whom they’ve by no means overwhelmed, however they’re additionally drawn towards the ever-dangerous Rankireddy/Shetty, whom they’ve by no means performed. An upset by the hands of the younger Indians may derail the Taiwan pair’s designs on the medal podium.
3-time World Champions Ahsan and Setiawan additionally may have a tough time on the group stage. Like at this yr’s World Tour Finals, they’ve been drawn in the identical group as Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu / Website positioning Seung Jae (pictured) and Chia/Soh of Malaysia. Whereas they’ve a robust file towards the Malaysians, their semi-final win in Bangkok was their first towards the Koreans. With the largely untested Canadians rounding out Group D, the battle for admission to the knockout spherical may very well be much more attention-grabbing this time round.
Of all of the teams, Group C would seem like probably the most simple at first look. Nevertheless, European Championship runners-up Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel can’t be dismissed out of hand. They prevailed towards world #5 Kamura and Sonoda the final time the 2 pairs met and so they had a terrific run on the Swiss Open earlier this yr. Their first ever encounter with 2018 World Champions Li/Liu on the group stage can even be an attention-grabbing one to look at.
Click on on the above desk to see a model with hyperlinks to detailed head-to-head outcomes. Cels shaded in inexperienced denote match-ups that can happen within the spherical robin stage.
